AWS Certified Security - Specialty practice test

1. Question 1 · 1

   The Security team believes that a former employee may have gained unauthorized access to AWS resources sometime in the past 3 months by using an identified access key. What approach would enable the Security team to find out what the former employee may have done within AWS?

   Choose one answer.

   • Use the AWS CloudTrail console to search for user activity.
   • Use the Amazon CloudWatch Logs console to filter CloudTrail data by user.
   • Use AWS Config to see what actions were taken by the user.
   • Use Amazon Athena to query CloudTrail logs stored in Amazon S3.

2. Question 2 · 1

   A company will store sensitive documents in three Amazon S3 buckets based on a data classification scheme of `Sensitive,` `Confidential,` and `Restricted.` The security solution must meet all of the following requirements: ✑ Each object must be encrypted using a unique key. ✑ Items that are stored in the `Restricted` bucket require two-factor authentication for decryption. ✑ AWS KMS must automatically rotate encryption keys annually. Which of the following meets these requirements?

   Choose one answer.

   • Create a Customer Master Key (CMK) for each data classification type, and enable the rotation of it annually. For the ג€Restrictedג€ CMK, define the MFA policy within the key policy. Use S3 SSE-KMS to encrypt the objects.
   • Create a CMK grant for each data classification type with EnableKeyRotation and MultiFactorAuthPresent set to true. S3 can then use the grants to encrypt each object with a unique CMK.
   • Create a CMK for each data classification type, and within the CMK policy, enable rotation of it annually, and define the MFA policy. S3 can then create DEK grants to uniquely encrypt each object within the S3 bucket.
   • Create a CMK with unique imported key material for each data classification type, and rotate them annually. For the ג€Restrictedג€ key material, define the MFA policy in the key policy. Use S3 SSE-KMS to encrypt the objects.

3. Question 3 · 1

   A company has five AWS accounts and wants to use AWS CloudTrail to log API calls. The log files must be stored in an Amazon S3 bucket that resides in a new account specifically built for centralized services with a unique top-level prefix for each trail. The configuration must also enable detection of any modification to the logs. Which of the following steps will implement these requirements? (Choose three.)

   Choose all answers that apply.

   • Create a new S3 bucket in a separate AWS account for centralized storage of CloudTrail logs, and enable ג€Log File Validationג€ on all trails.
   • Use an existing S3 bucket in one of the accounts, apply a bucket policy to the new centralized S3 bucket that permits the CloudTrail service to use the "s3: PutObject" action and the "s3 GetBucketACL" action, and specify the appropriate resource ARNs for the CloudTrail trails.
   • Apply a bucket policy to the new centralized S3 bucket that permits the CloudTrail service to use the "s3 PutObject" action and the "s3 GelBucketACL" action, and specify the appropriate resource ARNs for the CloudTrail trails.
   • Use unique log file prefixes for trails in each AWS account.
   • Configure CloudTrail in the centralized account to log all accounts to the new centralized S3 bucket.
   • Enable encryption of the log files by using AWS Key Management Service

4. Question 4 · 1

   A Security Engineer is implementing a solution to allow users to seamlessly encrypt Amazon S3 objects without having to touch the keys directly. The solution must be highly scalable without requiring continual management. Additionally, the organization must be able to immediately delete the encryption keys. Which solution meets these requirements?

   Choose one answer.

   • Use AWS KMS with AWS managed keys and the ScheduleKeyDeletion API with a PendingWindowInDays set to 0 to remove the keys if necessary.
   • Use KMS with AWS imported key material and then use the DeletelmportedKeyMaterial API to remove the key material if necessary.
   • Use AWS CloudHSM to store the keys and then use the CloudHSM API or the PKCS11 library to delete the keys if necessary.
   • Use the Systems Manager Parameter Store to store the keys and then use the service API operations to delete the key if necessary.

5. Question 5 · 1

   An application uses Amazon Cognito to manage end users' permissions when directly accessing AWS resources, including Amazon DynamoDB. A new feature request reads as follows: Provide a mechanism to mark customers as suspended pending investigation or suspended permanently. Customers should still be able to log in when suspended, but should not be able to make changes. The priorities are to reduce complexity and avoid potential for future security issues. Which approach will meet these requirements and priorities?

   Choose one answer.

   • Create a new database field ג€suspended_statusג€ and modify the application logic to validate that field when processing requests.
   • Add suspended customers to second Cognito user pool and update the application login flow to check both user pools.
   • Use Amazon Cognito Sync to push out a ג€suspension_statusג€ parameter and split the IAM policy into normal users and suspended users.
   • Move suspended customers to a second Cognito group and define an appropriate IAM access policy for the group.

6. Question 6 · 1

   A company stores data on an Amazon EBS volume attached to an Amazon EC2 instance. The data is asynchronously replicated to an Amazon S3 bucket. Both the EBS volume and the S3 bucket are encrypted with the same AWS KMS Customer Master Key (CMK). A former employee scheduled a deletion of that CMK before leaving the company. The company's Developer Operations department learns about this only after the CMK has been deleted. Which steps must be taken to address this situation?

   Choose one answer.

   • Copy the data directly from the EBS encrypted volume before the volume is detached from the EC2 instance.
   • Recover the data from the EBS encrypted volume using an earlier version of the KMS backing key.
   • Make a request to AWS Support to recover the S3 encrypted data.
   • Make a request to AWS Support to restore the deleted CMK, and use it to recover the data.

7. Question 7 · 1

   A company has Windows Amazon EC2 instances in a VPC that are joined to on-premises Active Directory servers for domain services. The security team has enabled Amazon GuardDuty on the AWS account to alert on issues with the instances. During a weekly audit of network traffic, the Security Engineer notices that one of the EC2 instances is attempting to communicate with a known command-and- control server but failing. This alert does not show up in GuardDuty. Why did GuardDuty fail to alert to this behavior?

   Choose one answer.

   • GuardDuty did not have the appropriate alerts activated.
   • GuardDuty does not see these DNS requests.
   • GuardDuty only monitors active network traffic flow for command-and-control activity.
   • GuardDuty does not report on command-and-control activity.

8. Question 8 · 1

   The AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store is being used to store database passwords used by an AWS Lambda function. Because this is sensitive data, the parameters are stored as type SecureString and protected by an AWS KMS key that allows access through IAM. When the function executes, this parameter cannot be retrieved as the result of an access denied error. Which of the following actions will resolve the access denied error?

   Choose one answer.

   • Update the ssm.amazonaws.com principal in the KMS key policy to allow kms: Decrypt.
   • Update the Lambda configuration to launch the function in a VPC.
   • Add a policy to the role that the Lambda function uses, allowing kms: Decrypt for the KMS key.
   • Add lambda.amazonaws.com as a trusted entity on the IAM role that the Lambda function uses.

9. Question 9 · 1

   A company's security policy requires that VPC Flow Logs are enabled on all VPCs. A Security Engineer is looking to automate the process of auditing the VPC resources for compliance. What combination of actions should the Engineer take? (Choose two.)

   Choose all answers that apply.

   • Create an AWS Lambda function that determines whether Flow Logs are enabled for a given VPC.
   • Create an AWS Config configuration item for each VPC in the company AWS account.
   • Create an AWS Config managed rule with a resource type of AWS:: Lambda:: Function.
   • Create an Amazon CloudWatch Event rule that triggers on events emitted by AWS Config.
   • Create an AWS Config custom rule, and associate it with an AWS Lambda function that contains the evaluating logic.

10. Question 10 · 1

    A Security Engineer is looking for a way to control access to data that is being encrypted under a CMK. The Engineer is also looking to use additional authenticated data (AAD) to prevent tampering with ciphertext. Which action would provide the required functionality?

    Choose one answer.

    • Pass the key alias to AWS KMS when calling Encrypt and Decrypt API actions.
    • Use IAM policies to restrict access to Encrypt and Decrypt API actions.
    • Use kms:EncryptionContext as a condition when defining IAM policies for the CMK.
    • Use key policies to restrict access to the appropriate IAM groups.

11. Question 11 · 1

    An application makes calls to AWS services using the AWS SDK. The application runs on Amazon EC2 instances with an associated IAM role. When the application attempts to access an object within an Amazon S3 bucket; the Administrator receives the following error message: HTTP 403: Access Denied. Which combination of steps should the Administrator take to troubleshoot this issue? (Choose three.)

    Choose all answers that apply.

    • Confirm that the EC2 instance's security group authorizes S3 access.
    • Verify that the KMS key policy allows decrypt access for the KMS key for this IAM principle.
    • Check the S3 bucket policy for statements that deny access to objects.
    • Confirm that the EC2 instance is using the correct key pair.
    • Confirm that the IAM role associated with the EC2 instance has the proper privileges.
    • Confirm that the instance and the S3 bucket are in the same Region.

12. Question 12 · 1

    An organization wants to deploy a three-tier web application whereby the application servers run on Amazon EC2 instances. These EC2 instances need access to credentials that they will use to authenticate their SQL connections to an Amazon RDS DB instance. Also, AWS Lambda functions must issue queries to the RDS database by using the same database credentials. The credentials must be stored so that the EC2 instances and the Lambda functions can access them. No other access is allowed. The access logs must record when the credentials were accessed and by whom. What should the Security Engineer do to meet these requirements?

    Choose one answer.

    • Store the database credentials in AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS). Create an IAM role with access to AWS KMS by using the EC2 and Lambda service principals in the role's trust policy. Add the role to an EC2 instance profile. Attach the instance profile to the EC2 instances. Set up Lambda to use the new role for execution.
    • Store the database credentials in AWS KMS. Create an IAM role with access to KMS by using the EC2 and Lambda service principals in the role's trust policy. Add the role to an EC2 instance profile. Attach the instance profile to the EC2 instances and the Lambda function.
    • Store the database credentials in AWS Secrets Manager. Create an IAM role with access to Secrets Manager by using the EC2 and Lambda service principals in the role's trust policy. Add the role to an EC2 instance profile. Attach the instance profile to the EC2 instances and the Lambda function.
    • Store the database credentials in AWS Secrets Manager. Create an IAM role with access to Secrets Manager by using the EC2 and Lambda service principals in the role's trust policy. Add the role to an EC2 instance profile. Attach the instance profile to the EC2 instances. Set up Lambda to use the new role for execution.

13. Question 13 · 1

    A Security Engineer must implement mutually authenticated TLS connections between containers that communicate inside a VPC. Which solution would be MOST secure and easy to maintain?

    Choose one answer.

    • Use AWS Certificate Manager to generate certificates from a public certificate authority and deploy them to all the containers.
    • Create a self-signed certificate in one container and use AWS Secrets Manager to distribute the certificate to the other containers to establish trust.
    • Use AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority (ACM PCA) to create a subordinate certificate authority, then create the private keys in the containers and sign them using the ACM PCA API.
    • Use AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority (ACM PCA) to create a subordinate certificate authority, then use AWS Certificate Manager to generate the private certificates and deploy them to all the containers.

14. Question 14 · 1

    The Accounting department at Example Corp. has made a decision to hire a third-party firm, AnyCompany, to monitor Example Corp.'s AWS account to help optimize costs. The Security Engineer for Example Corp. has been tasked with providing AnyCompany with access to the required Example Corp. AWS resources. The Engineer has created an IAM role and granted permission to AnyCompany's AWS account to assume this role. When customers contact AnyCompany, they provide their role ARN for validation. The Engineer is concerned that one of AnyCompany's other customers might deduce Example Corp.'s role ARN and potentially compromise the company's account. What steps should the Engineer perform to prevent this outcome?

    Choose one answer.

    • Create an IAM user and generate a set of long-term credentials. Provide the credentials to AnyCompany. Monitor access in IAM access advisor and plan to rotate credentials on a recurring basis.
    • Request an external ID from AnyCompany and add a condition with sts:Externald to the role's trust policy.
    • Require two-factor authentication by adding a condition to the role's trust policy with aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent.
    • Request an IP range from AnyCompany and add a condition with aws:SourceIp to the role's trust policy.

15. Question 15 · 1

    A company maintains sensitive data in an Amazon S3 bucket that must be protected using an AWS KMS CMK. The company requires that keys be rotated automatically every year. How should the bucket be configured?

    Choose one answer.

    • Select server-side encryption with Amazon S3-managed keys (SSE-S3) and select an AWS-managed CMK.
    • Select Amazon S3-AWS KMS managed encryption keys (S3-KMS) and select a customer-managed CMK with key rotation enabled.
    • Select server-side encryption with Amazon S3-managed keys (SSE-S3) and select a customer-managed CMK that has imported key material.
    • Select server-side encryption with AWS KMS-managed keys (SSE-KMS) and select an alias to an AWS-managed CMK.

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